Abstract
I took over as Editor of the Journal of Diagnostic Medical Sonography (JDMS) in 1996. At that time, I was 14 years into my 35-year tenure as manager of the Departments of Ultrasound and Prenatal Diagnosis & Genetics at the University of Colorado Hospital. Before taking over as Editor of JDMS, I had the privilege of acting as Assistant then Associate Editor for five years and thus learning the ropes from then Editor Jean Lea Spitz, MPH, RDMS, FSDMS. In addition to the daunting task of trying to fill Jean’s amazing shoes, my main objective during my tenure was to continue to improve the quality and number of manuscripts submitted to the journal.
One of our first tasks was to build an Editorial Board of nationally and internationally recognized experts in ultrasound, including sonographers, physicists, and physicians. In looking back, I am still in awe of those who were willing to volunteer their time and expertise toward advancing JDMS. This impressive list of experts included Mimi Berman, Harris Cohen, Peter Cooperberg, Josh Copel, Marveen Craig, Reva Curry, Dale Cyr, Marie DeLange, Terry DuBose, Steve Goldstein, Lois Hart, W.R Hedrick, John Hobbins, Diane Kawamura, Ted Lyons, Michael Manco-Johnson, Dan Merton, David Nyberg, William O’Brian, Roger Sanders, Alan Waggoner, Larry Waldroup, Paula Woletz, James Zagzebski, and many others.
This group of individuals along with countless other sonographers and sonologists allowed us to introduce an Author Mentoring Program for the journal. The mentoring program was developed to provide one-on-one assistance to first-time authors and anyone else interested in contributing to the journal. The mentoring program was headed by my Assistant Editor at the time, Melissa Seagraves-Crowther. Our goal was to provide a means of offering guidance in writing and submitting a scientific paper to those who were interested but were unsure how to proceed. We also wanted to help “coach” those who submitted a manuscript that may have been of interest to the readership but needed a little tweaking to make it publishable. With the help of Jean Lea Spitz, we were also able to develop the JDMS Guide for Authors and an ongoing Writers Workshop Educational Forum. Our mentoring program was very successful in increasing the number of manuscripts submitted and accepted by the journal. Mentoring continues to be a focus of JDMS, in particular to improve the manuscript submission process of sonography students who are often not provided much structure in writing a scientific paper and can be negatively affected if their work is rejected without understanding how to improve.
The late 1990s and early 2000s also saw rapid change and growth within the ultrasound profession. JDMS served as a useful tool to keep professionals up-to-date on medical and technical changes and innovations, as well as provide a forum for discussion regarding the rapidly evolving field. Some of the “new” topics covered at that time included nonsonographers/sonologists performing ultrasound, accreditation of ultrasound laboratories and sonographer training programs, development of the “Advanced Practice Sonographer,” sonographer licensure, and an awareness of repetitive motion injuries affecting sonographers. Interestingly, we also rolled out a “JDMS online” column to familiarize sonographers with topics not well understood at the time, including using the Internet, webpages, electronic mail, and electronic manuscript submission.
Another area of focus during my tenure as Editor included trying to get JDMS accepted into Index Medicus, now more commonly referred to as MEDLINE, which is the principal online bibliographic citation database of the National Library of Medicine’s PubMed system. This involved a herculean effort by the Editorial Board as well as the Society of Diagnostic Medical Sonography staff, including months of preparation and data collection and review. Inclusion remains highly sought after in the academic realm and is dependent on the quality and originality of journal content. The impact factor assigned to a journal included in this database remains a primary criterion for promotion in most academic centers. Inclusion was also important because it provides broader access to articles published in the journal.
As part of our effort to apply for acceptance into Index Medicus, we were able to attract publications not only from our prominent Editorial Board members but also from some other widely respected contributors to our field, including Larry Mack, Tom Stavros, Joan Baker, Carol Rumack, Kevin Evans, Cindy Rapp, Ron Townsend, Randall Meacham, Cindy Peterson, Richard Barr, and Tom Winter, just to name a few.
During this time, JDMS was able to publish articles on such cutting-edge topics as ultrasound in the evaluation and management of male infertility, ultrasound-guided breast biopsy techniques, the use of power Doppler, ultrasound of the normal appendix, ultrasound evaluation of hernias, ultrasound identification of partial anomalous pulmonary return in a fetus, and one of the first reports of ultrasound identification of a metatarsal stress fracture.
While our efforts for inclusion in Index Medicus were unsuccessful, I remain proud of the efforts we made to advance manuscript submission quality and inclusion by students, sonographers, and physicians. Ultimately, these efforts laid the groundwork for the variety of prestigious scholarly indexes in which JDMS is now included.
My time as Editor of JDMS was a tremendous learning experience. It was exciting, busy, challenging, and at times stressful but well worth the effort. I realize I was privileged to learn from some of the best in the field and I will be forever grateful for that opportunity. What I am most appreciative of are the people I met and the friendships I made. They have contributed immensely to a long and fulfilling career in ultrasound.